


Gradual

by On_Sonnshine



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Elliot/George is in effect, Fluff, Gen, Identity Issues, Like, angst???, cause what can i tag, dales only mentioned obvs, elliot is gay, fight me, ish, super ish, while George is not here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 07:56:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11916537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/On_Sonnshine/pseuds/On_Sonnshine
Summary: When Olivia noticed, she had mixed feelings.When she understood, however, it was a different matter entirely.





	Gradual

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to RockOnJenny on Tumblr. Told you you'd get a mention, HA!

It took a while for Olivia to notice.  
  
At first it was just a flash of color out of the corner of her eye that she passed off as a flash of clothes of a vic or perp.  
  
In fact, she only fully noticed when she and Elliot were stuck with paperwork. She'd just looked up and noticed a flash of dark red when he moved down his pen.  
  
She raised her head further in interest, knowing for damn fact this time it couldn't be his shirt, considering he was wearing The Powder Blue One™. She shifted to the side, looking over where their desk were pressed together, and then froze for a moment.  
  
Okay.  
  
Uh...  
  
_Well then._  
  
She didn't know what she'd been expecting but this...this wasn't it.  
  
'Hey, Elliot?' The question was very tentative, she honestly did not know if she wanted him to hear her.  
  
He looked up, hand pausing in it's movements, a small smile crossing his face.  
  
'Yeah 'Liv'?' He responded, smiling softly.  
  
Huh. That was odd. He'd never smiled like that before, at her at least. At George, yeah, sometimes, when he was really, really happy, but other than that...nada. And his eyes, they were weirdly...bright.  
  
'What's with the nail polish?' She cringed internally because _oh dear jesus she hadn't meant to blurt it out like that what the fUCK OLIVIA_.  
  
The smile slowly fell, and the light faded. He lifted his hand, looking at his nails, purposefully looking away from her.  
  
'Oh uh...I dunno, Lizzie wanted to paint 'em the other day so...' Elliot shrugged. 'Didn't find the time to take it off.'  
  
His tone was dismissive, as though he wanted to get away from the topic _as fast as possible_. Slowly, she nodded. That made sense, Lizzie had been quite fascinated by nail polish, wanting to paint her nails the last time she'd been over to Elliot's, the week before. If Olivia had paid a bit more more attention at the time, she would have noticed the way Elliot's shoulders slumped, his mouth setting in a straight (the only straight thing about him) line.  
  
Well, the Lizzie excuse worked. For...what, two weeks? Before Olivia realized a fatal flaw with his excuse.  
  
See, one week was about how long nail polish lasted. It chipped easily as well.  
  
_Elliot's nails were not only fucking_ _ **smooth as all fucking hell**_ , _they were now fucking_ **_dark purple_**. And how, goddammit, were his nails better than hers?!  
  
That's not even to mention that Elizabeth's nail polish phase had died out. He had no _viable_ excuse for it, other than the obvious: he'd painted them himself which, holy hell that was adorable. (Wow she never thought she'd be describing _THE_ Elliot Stabler as 'adorable')  
  
Well, as this realization came so did the realization that it seemed her tendency to blurt things out was getting worse. They were at his house, which, she just really wanted him to cook for her (don't even get her started on his cooking because wOW-) and when he smiled, sitting down beside her and splaying his hand on her knee, by her hand, she couldn't not ask;  
  
'How are your nails better than _mine?_  
  
A red flush could be seen spreading up from beneath the collar of his shirt, and he stammered, a bit uncertain of what to do. Olivia was quick to redirect, make what she was insinuating clearer because she was not about to have him feel fucking bad oh nO-  
  
'I mean, I love them! I'm just surprised you've been painting them!' She tried to explain herself further, and he eased up a bit, thought still uncomfortable.  
  
Olivia smiled reassuringly, then left the subject, understanding perfectly the reason.  
  
Fuck you Joseph.  
  
Hoh boy, she deserved a medal for the interference she ran in the following week.  
  
Because fuck if people didn't start to notice.  
  
The first, was John.  
  
John who, had never been the most... _sensitive_ to people. (hello joking about Olivia's father without knowing anything on the subject).  
  
Olivia had seen it. Psychically _seen_ the moment when Elliot made a big gesture with his hand and John's eyes locked onto his nails. Olivia was quick, quicker than she'd thought possible as she swept by John, grabbing his shoulder and yanking him down to her height.  
  
' _Say a goddamned word and you'll be black and blue before you can even finish the sentence_ ' She hissed into his ear before letting go and continuing out of the room.  
  
He seemed to take the 'hint', not saying anything though he had a million questions and a billion conspiracy theories about big strong Elliot Stabler painting his nails.  
  
The second, was Cragen.  
  
Not much to say about this one except, oh god, he smiled and it was amazing, Olivia could've cried.  
  
The third, fuck, the third, was Fin.  
  
Now Fin...he's a bit of an enigma when it comes to Elliot. It's like, he hates the guy, but he has this sorta begrudging respect for him, it's complicated. So when Elliot laughed, hand resting on his knee, the now crimson polish on his nails shining when the light hit them, Fin's eyes drew right to the sudden light. And he seemed extremely unsure of whether he should say something or avoid what could be a fight. Which was ridiculous, but Fin didn't have a good impression of Elliot so it was to be expected.  
  
Fin looked over and caught John's eye, nodding towards Elliot's hand as if saying _'you see it too?'_. John immediately shook his head, trying to ward Fin away from saying anything. Fin almost did open his mouth, and then he caught the poisonous glare Olivia was giving him, just _daring_ him to say anything.  
  
Needless to say, he kept his mouth shut.  
  
But, the person who completely busted the door down was none other than their very own Ryan O'Halloran.  
  
Ryan was...outside of the lab, a bit...eccentric. Nothing like, say, Stuckey who was universally hated. But eccentric.  
  
So when he strolled into the Squad Room, knowing they were going out, he was fully out of his work mode. And then he saw Elliot's nails.  
  
Let me tell you, it was like waving a ball in front of a puppy because Ryan was across the room in seconds with a ' _Those look really good when did you start painting your nails?_ '.  
  
Olivia froze. Elliot froze. Olivia cursed because _'goddammit I was running interference like a damn champ!'_. Ryan continued because what a puppy, he was going now and there was no stopping him.  
  
'I used to paint my nails but then I stopped because you can't have paint and work in the lab. I miss it though.' Elliot looked surprised.  
  
Being honest, he'd never really expected that from Ryan.  
  
'People used to get on my case about it because it was 'feminine' or something but not really. I mean, it was something I loved to do so why care what they had to say?' Olivia, like before, could psychically see the moment the words registered, because there was a pause, and then Elliot relaxed slightly.  
  
'You think so?' Elliot asked, after a second and Ryan grinned.  
  
'Yeah! I wouldn't have stopped if I hadn't had to for my job.'  
  
Olivia didn't know what those exact words did, or what it was about them, but the next day Elliot's nails were what could, swear to god, be described as the bright end of Scarlet.  
  
And then, the highlight of her day really, John was staring and Elliot suddenly looked away from her, and snarked:  
  
'Something interesting?' Let's just say John chose to save himself, not answering.  
  
Elliot had chuckled, rolling his eyes as he lifted his hand up.  
  
'Are they really that interesting?'  
  
And really, Olivia couldn't have been happier for him.

**Author's Note:**

> I love my life


End file.
